Naldo shocks BVB with late leveller in 4-4 draw

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The 80,179 spectators at a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK – almost 1,200 seats remained unoccupied for security reasons – created a real derby atmosphere right from the very beginning and transformed the stadium into a cauldron of noise. Perhaps it was no surprise, given that the Black & Yellows had run Schalke off their feet in the opening stages, surging into a 4-0 lead by the 25th minute thanks to goals from Aubameyang (12), Stambouli (o.g., 18), Götze (20) and Guerreiro (25). Burgstaller pulled one back for the visitors in the 61st minute and Harit grabbed another four minutes later, before Aubameyang was sent off for two bookable offences (72). With four minutes remaining, Caligiuri drove into box from the right and added a third from 10 metres. Naldo then headed home the equaliser from a corner in stoppage time (90+4).

The scenario:
Fifth-placed BVB were hosting second-placed S04. Of the previous 90 Bundesliga Ruhr derbies, it had only once been possible for the winner to leapfrog the loser in the table: Borussia did so on 19 September 1987, winning 4-1 to move up to 12th spot. Dortmund had only lost one of the previous eight meetings between the sides, but the last three had all ended in stalemate.

Personnel matters:
Piszczek, Reus, Rode, Durm and Bürki were all missing through injury, though Sokratis and Pulisic recovered in time to make the starting XI. Weidenfeller, Sahin and Toprak all returned to the side, with Zagadou, Kagawa and Bartra all dropping to the bench after featuring against Tottenham. Schalke, meanwhile, were without Insua and Bentaleb, while Goretzka was fit enough to make the bench.

Tactics:
Both teams lined up in a 3-4-3 formation but resorted to five at the back whenever their opponents had the ball. For the Black & Yellows, Pulisic and Guerreiro dropped back into defence whenever Schalke regained possession. Going forward the hosts were extremely flexible, with Götze, Sahin, Pulisc and Yarmolenko consistently switching positions and wreaking such havoc that Schalke couldn't get into the game for a long while. Only once Goretzka and Harit had entered the fray on 33 minutes – prompting a change to a 4-3-3 formation – did the visitors manage to get their defence into some sort of order.

The match & analysis:
It was actually Schalke who created the first good opportunity through Konoplyanka after 30 seconds, but the events that subsequently unfolded at the other end of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK are almost indescribable, with Borussia Dortmund racing into a 4-0 lead in the opening 25 minutes. The Black & Yellows were on fire – looking flexible, solid at the back and demonstrating a level of attacking prowess rarely seen in a Ruhr derby before.

But let's start from the very beginning. In the opening stages, the visitors tried to halt BVB in their tracks with some tough tackling and received their first booking, shown to McKennie, after only three minutes. The hosts, though, remained unperturbed by the at times excessively aggressive approach from the Miners, instead turning up the heat with some wonderful football. Aubameyang slid in at the back post for the opener on 12 minutes, rounding off a move involving Pulisic and Sahin. For the first time on what turned out to be a memorable afternoon, the stadium exploded into life – and remained in a state of frenzy for the next 13 minutes.

Black & Yellows in full flow

Barely two minutes after the opener the Gabon forward came close to adding another but fired inches wide with a shot on the turn from the penalty spot. The hosts did double their advantage on the 18-minute mark, though, from a free-kick they were awarded on the right flank. Sahin took the set-piece and Stambouli, attempting to clear the ball, inadvertently directed it past Fährmann and into his own net. Two minutes later, with the fans in SIGNAL IDUNA PARK still celebrating, BVB countered down the right flank through Aubameyang, who easily outmanoeuvred Stambouli before crossing towards the back post, where Götze emerged unmarked and headed the ball in for a third (20).

By this point Schalke looked completely out of sorts and BVB capitalised. Sahin and Aubameyang played a fine one-two in the box but the Gabon striker's shot was blocked by the outstretched leg of a Schalke player. Fortunately, the ball landed at the feet of Guerreiro, who drove a fizzing volley from a centre-left position 14 metres out into the back of the net (25). The hosts dropped down a couple of gears in what remained of the first half and let Schalke attack, but there was only one moment of danger when Toprak's clearance rebounded off Konoplyanka. Fortunately, the ball sailed wide of the upright rather than into the net (45).

Sensational goal-line save from Weidenfeller

The Royal Blues enjoyed their strongest spell after the break and pulled a goal back on 53 minutes, although it was rightly disallowed after being reviewed by the video assistant referee in Cologne, who spotted that a Schalke player had been standing in an offside position when the free-kick was taken. Shortly afterwards Weidenfeller made a wonderful one-on-one save to deny Caligiuri and preserve the four-goal lead (56). As Schalke looked to fight back, they opened up and left the hosts lots of space to play with. Aubameyang was twice denied by Fährmann (55/58), and then once by Naldo (60).

But several seconds later the visitors finally got their goal when Burgstaller met a cross from inside his own half to head over Weidenfeller from 16 metres (61). The goal gave the Miners a new lease of life, and they added a second through Harit four minutes later (65). Aubameyang was then dismissed for receiving a second yellow card (72). Weidenfeller subsequently preserved the two-goal cushion with an unbelievable save to deny Burgstaller (73), but Schalke built up a real head of steam in the closing stages and pinned Borussia back. BVB fell under increasing pressure and Caligiuri added a third with four minutes remaining. The refereeing team then added on an incredible seven minutes of stoppages due to the number of interruptions, and Schalke took full advantage as Naldo levelled the score at 4-4 in the fourth minute of added time.

Prospects:
Borussia Dortmund have a week-long break before their next game, which is an away Bundesliga meeting with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday 2 December (15:30 CET).

Teams & goals